F-200 Confusion...

[morrissey2k7]

OK, so once upon a time I owned a F-200 (back at launch, actually), but I sold it a few months later to relieve a little financial tension I was going through at the time. Recently, I got the itch to own another one, so I purchased one from gp2xstore.com a few days ago, while they're still available (they have ridiculously fast shipping, btw: I ordered it on Friday and it arrived on Monday!!!).

Anyway, I've been kinda out of the scene since February (although I have been keeping my eye on the Wiz -- and posting here in the forums about it, recently), and it seems like the F-200 went through quite a bit of change in my absence -- A few firmware updates, a second model (( B )), and loss of touchscreen functionality on homebrew because of some of the firmware updates...

Well, I guess I'm a little confused, because I'd heard that the F-200( B ) (which some people have been referring to as the "F-200 MK2") comes shipped with FW 4.0.2, but my new F-200( B ) has FW 4.0.0 preloaded, not 4.0.2. Is there any advantage to me upgrading to the newest FW? I get so skittish about doing any firmware upgrades unless I absolutely have to, or the advantage of doing so is worth the risk (i.e., some major bugfix or exciting new feature).

I haven't tried out any touchscreen compatible homebrew yet, so I don't know if it works alright (I hope it does... it worked just fine on my original F-200 which also had FW 4.0.0). Unfortunately, I've noticed that my unit has that slightly annoying white line on the lefthand side of my screen, but that's not a terribly big deal to me. Also, I thought I'd heard something about the F-200( B ) having a newer, better LCD screen... is that fact or fiction?

So, I guess to sum it up, I'm curious why my unit is a ( B ) but has FW 4.0.0, if there's any dire/exciting reason to update my firmware, and if my screen is in fact better than the one on the F-200 at launch.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gruso]

The notion that ( B ) models all came with 4.0.2 is false – as you have discovered. I got my ( B ) at the start of the year, with 4.0.0 on it. My advice, don’t upgrade the firmware! There are some minor tweaks, but they’re outweighed by potential problems.

 

[TrevorBradley]

There have been reports that the newer firmware clobbers the touchscreen support for homebrew programs. I still haven't upgraded my first gen F200.

 

[morrissey2k7]

There have been reports that the newer firmware clobbers the touchscreen support for homebrew programs. I still haven't upgraded my first gen F200.

Yes, I'd heard the same. I've only tested one touchscreen compatible game so far (Boomshine2x), and it works great, so I don't think I'll mess with the firmware at all -- I mean, why rock the boat, right? ;-)

 

[gruso]

Exactly. If you're after some more games that make good use of the touchscreen, start with Space Varments and B'lox.

 

[Manjuu]

The (B ) label for the "new" F-200s is indeed a misnomer.

Since your unit came with FW 4.0.0, it is the "old" F-200. The "new" F-200s cannot be downgraded to this FW version; it'll brick them.

As to whether to update to the newer FW, I'll "shamelessly" (according to bman :lol: ) quote myself yet again:

Some of the Pros & Cons of FW 4.1.1:

Pros:
- Improved built-in apps (new features & fixes)
- Lower volume (for apps with ear-deafening volume)
- No more sound frequency issues (Allegro games, Java games...)

Cons:
- Broken touchscreen (for homebrew only; notaz has a fix for this)
- Volume too low (for apps that auto-detect F-200s & then lower the volume)
- Broken autorun function (using GMenu2X is a pain)

IMO, it is better to stick with FW 4.0.0 (or wait for Open2X). The broken autorun function is too much of a loss; GMenu2X is very hard to use, as it needs to be relaunched manually each time after exiting apps that exit back to the gp2xmenu.

 

[TrevorBradley]

Yes, I'd heard the same. I've only tested one touchscreen compatible game so far (Boomshine2x), and it works great, so I don't think I'll mess with the firmware at all -- I mean, why rock the boat, right? ;-)

The critical point here is that the firmware updates don't speed up the boot process. Everything else is apparently the same.

However, GPH released the source code for their device and there's been a flurry of activity on the Open2x custom firmware front. Previously they were apathetic about supporting the F200, now it sounds like a possibility. Key factor here is if they can keep from bricking the units they have.

 

[morrissey2k7]

The (B ) label for the "new" F-200s is indeed a misnomer.

Since your unit came with FW 4.0.0, it is the "old" F-200. The "new" F-200s cannot be downgraded to this FW version; it'll brick them.

Hrm. Well, I was reading some info that EvilDragon posted on the matter, and it seems that the F-200's that have the new touchscreen came pre-loaded with FW 4.0.2, and those particular units are totally incompatible with FW 4.0.0. So, since I have 4.0.0 on my unit, I must have one of the "old" F-200's. But I find that very odd. I literally got this unit 2 days ago from gp2xstore. They've been talking for awhile about how they're on their last shipment of F-200's, so I *should* have one of the newest F-200's produced, right?... I guess I'm wondering why GPH would go back to their "old" F-200 units with 4.0.0 on them after releasing the "new" F-200's with 4.0.2 (and I don't want to hear some variation of "well, you know how effed up GPH can be!", haha).

Anyway, my Info screen (in Settings) looks like this:

Version: 4.0.0
Model: GP2X - F200
S/N 2007.12.17 ------------------- (I don't want to put in the rest of my serial number, heh).

So, I'm guessing that first part of the serial is when my GP2X was produced...

It's all very curious.

 

[bomberman]

Seems like systems before 2008 were 4.0.0. I am holding off until everything is fixed. No problems with 4.0 where I stand. Keep it.